MLB Free Agency: Will Kyle Lohse Go to the Texas Rangers?

According to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com, Texas Rangers left-handed starting pitcher Martin Perez suffered a fractured ulna in his left forearm after he was struck by a line drive in today's spring training game leaving him unavailable to throw for approximately four weeks.  

Does this mean the Rangers will seriously consider signing free-agent pitcher Kyle Lohse?  According to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com, "discussions are almost certain to grow more serious" following Perez's injury.

The 34-year-old Lohse went 16-3 last season for the St. Louis Cardinals with a 2.86 ERA and 143 strikeouts.  He also led the league in winning percentage, tied for the lead in games started and finished seventh in National League Cy Young Award voting.   

He's been without doubt the most intriguing remaining free-agent on the market and it was only a matter of time before a team stepped up to add him to their rotation.

Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram recently reported that the Rangers have stayed in contact with Lohse's agent Scott Boras and still haven't totally ruled out signing the right-hander before opening day.  

The major drawback is that the Rangers don't want to surrender their 24th overall pick in next year's amateur draft even though they already picked up the 31st pick with the loss of Josh Hamilton.  

And while adding Lohse to the rotation could be a nice short-term addition, his price tag for his services will not be on the lower-end of the scale and the Rangers will have to deal with Boras' demands if adding him is an option.   

Though it's still uncertain whether or not Perez's injury will fuel the Rangers' interest in Lohse, one thing is for sure—they could certainly use the extra arm in their rotation going into the 2013 season.